Expansion Is Risky For Lifetime Tv

In 1984, Dr. Ruth Westheimer's Good Sex! put Lifetime Television on the map. Today, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and other network-style dramas are helping it stay there.

Once nestled in a niche of low-budget informational programming, the basic cable network aimed at women is now expanding into the high-risk world of dramatic programming.

Such expansion is a must if Lifetime wants to gain market share in a very competitive environment. But the course carries risk.

As programming costs escalate, will Lifetime be able to invest the sums necessary to compete against the cable industry's biggest players? And will it eventually outgrow the niche responsible for its success?

''All cable networks tend to expand beyond their niches if they want to keep growing,'' said Larry Gerbrandt, a cable analyst with Paul Kagan Associates in Carmel, Calif.

The channel, based in the Astoria section of Queens, N.Y., was formed in 1984 by the merger of Daytime and Cable Health Network. It is among the top 10 basic cable networks with a mix of programming targeted at a highly identifiable and sought-after target: young women.

Solidly profitable, the network has advertising revenues that top $100 million annually. Lifetime's prime-time ratings have jumped 80 percent in the past four years; subscriber counts have nearly doubled, to 47.9 million. In January, Lifetime's penetration of total U.S. TV households passed the 50 percent mark.

For more than a year, Lifetime has been shelling out relatively big bucks for top syndicated fare with female appeal, such as Moonlighting, L.A. Law, It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Tracey Ullman Show.

In October, it outbid independent TV stations for the exclusive rights to a package of 42 hit movies including Bull Durham, Married to the Mob and Hannah and Her Sisters.

At the same time, Lifetime is making a substantial commitment to original programming.

Take the The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. After NBC dumped the critically acclaimed show about a New York divorcee, Lifetime not only picked up the show, but began producing 13 new episodes of the prime-time series.

An additional 26 new episodes produced for Lifetime will start airing Friday.

Following a trend established by Turner Network Television and USA Network, Lifetime soon will begin production on 15 original movies. These films will have an average per-movie production budget of $2.5 million, a sum that places them within range of network made-for-TV movies.

Pat Fili, Lifetime's senior vice president of programming, sees opportunities for more original production. In 1988, Lifetime's ratio of original to acquired programming was 33 percent to 67 percent. Today, the ratio is 44-56.

Fili's goal is to get it to 50-50 as soon as possible. She hopes to have one completely original night by 1991.

How is Lifetime financing its expansion? Its ad revenues are showing healthy gains, but the commitment requires more money than Lifetime can manage on its own, analysts said.

Some financial assistance is coming from its three owners: Hearst Corp., Capital Cities/ABC Inc. and Viacom Inc. According to Lifetime's president, Tom Burchill, the three partners will underwrite 25 percent to 33 percent of the production costs of the original movies.

The details of each project vary. Lifetime retains editorial control of the movies, but the partners own distribution rights.

Lifetime consistently has found other ways to defray the high costs of programming.

In the case of the health information program, What Every Baby Knows: The First Three Years, Lifetime called upon marketing powerhouse Procter & Gamble Co. for financial assistance. The Cincinnati-based consumer goods company pays the show's production costs up front.

Lifetime did not share financial details, except to say the commitment represents millions of dollars.

Erica Gruen, vice president and associate director of TV information and new media with Procter & Gamble's ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in New York, said P&G is satisfied with the investment.

''Until we created this program, the only other targeted medium was magazines,'' she said.

Lifetime also has been able to convince major advertisers to buy substantial ad schedules on particular shows, which it uses as a guarantee to proceed with production.

With Molly Dodd, for example, Bristol-Myers Co. signed a multi-year advertising contract for the show prior to production.

In addition to commercials for Bristol-Myers' many consumer products, viewers are likely to see Bristol-Myers' brands - Clairol and Excedrin, for example - in Molly Dodd's medicine chest.

Doug McCormick, Lifetime's senior vice president of sales, believes that the network's target marketing - with its focus on women - is the essential element in its advertising appeal.

''It seemed to us all along that Lifetime was one of the networks that exemplified the promise of cable,'' said Betsy Frank, senior vice president and director of TV information and new media at Saatchi & Saatchi. ''They set a goal and they've stuck to it.''

But with the introduction of more general-interest dramatic programming, might Lifetime eventually lose its advantage?

Burchill acknowledges that some of the new shows have appeal beyond women, but he insists the network can ''can run down more of those avenues'' without risking its position. ''I want every woman in America to tune into Lifetime in 10 years' time,'' Burchill said.

Analysts say it will be a challenge. ''There's a saying that nobody's small by choice,'' said Saatchi's Frank.